Observations on the Emerging Economic Landscape

Part of what's happening as a result of the economic downturn is a rethinking and reshaping of the financial industry landscape. Its been said that for years, the nation's top college graduates from it's top institutions have been funneling into jobs on Wall Street where they could relatively quickly expect to be making a six-figure salary working for one of the major banks or investment firms. But now, it seems that some Wall Street bankers are moving out of their high-paying jobs at the bailout banks and into positions at smaller upstart institutions.

Also, there are changing patterns visible within higher education. Students are starting to take education, government, and science careers seriously. It seems that for today's college and graduate students, the crisis has called into question the dominant career paths of the last decade. Finance appears to be on the way out. But in the new economy, which career will be king?

These are interesting issues to me first, because it has ramifications for our city. New York is the financial capital of the world. The kind of city it will be is largely determined by the kind of people who will live here, which is determined by the kind of jobs available. I'm also particularly interested in the second article as it relates to the shaping of young people's values and career paths. If our universities' top graduates (the "best and the brightest") are all ending up with jobs on Wall Street, what does it say about our collective value system as a country? How does it need to change?